cross my heart (and hope to die)
by ro-blaze
Summary: after years of studying, levy mcgarden is ready to give up on her childhood dream. a dangerous apportunity opens up for her and she accepts it with open arms, but this kurogane person is driving her crazy - his arrogant smile, the excitement in his eyes, the promise in his rough voice. he's danger and she knows it, yet... why is she letting him steal her heart? [Gajevy; slowburn]
1. 1: enter

upload date - 9th June 2018 (original upload date: 31th March 2018)

word count: 976

full resume:

 _after years of studying and no job, levy mcgarden is ready to give up. one day an opportunity opens up for her - work for illegal organization, get the money she needs and gain experience to fulfill her childhood dream._

 _and somehow this kurogane person seems adamant to turn her life around. he's driving her crazy - his arrogant smile, the flicker of excitement in his eyes, the promise in his rough voice._

 _he's danger and she knows it._

 _why can't she stop thinking about him? why can't she drive him out of her mind?_

 _why is she letting him steal her heart?_

* * *

The run-down building was certainly the last thing Levy expected from the job offer. Then again, what could she expect from a half-stranger?

Okay, half-stranger wasn't the best way to describe her. With the intimidating height of six feet and a wild mane of chocolate curls, Cana Alberona had been a blessing in disguise. The two young women met at a small pub downtown after Levy's last ruined job interview and proceed to drink the night away together. Cana had shown unusual kindness as she welcomed her into her arms to dry her tears... and after that, in her bed.

Levy had been utterly confused - she wasn't the type to have sex right away. Or the type to have sex at all. (Which perhaps was the reason why most of her past partners left her.) She wasn't a virgin for sure, but her past experiences were nothing extraordinary. And she enjoyed sex, as the occasional rustle in the sheets in the last weeks clearly showed.

Maybe it was the wrong partners?

A loud clash of metal against metal startled her, making her jump. The sound of Cana's laugher trickled around them, equally attractive and dangerous.

"You're adorable, baby blue" she whispered playfully, hands on Levy's small shoulders. "Let's go inside, shall we? Boss's waiting!"

Levy bit her lip, still not completely convinced. God knew she needed a job - the small bookstore she worked at, although pleasant, barely covered her needs. What was the point of working herself over textbooks night after night, for years, when no one hired her? With every interview, her despair grew more and more.

Which, in retrospection, was the reason she took the offer.

After few more minutes of reassuring and convincing, Cana managed to get her to walk in. The hallways were surprisingly clean and well-lit, anonymous doors on each side. Levy found herself relaxing, the tension in her shoulders loosening, even for a bit.

She'd known it had to be something dangerous from the start. Whenever she asked, Cana always avoided talking about what she worked. Driving around, selling stuff, talking with people. And this... A half-destroyed building in the worst part of the city, surprisingly clean and put-together on the inside... Levy had a bad feeling about everything.

After some wandering around (was it this big from the outside?) they finally arrived. Unlike the simple wooden and metal doors on the way there, this one was double, made of some sort of dark wood with small metal accents. Cana lifted her hand and knocked few times, then stood back and waited.

"Come in."

With a wide grin, the tall woman pushed the double (mahogany? oak?) doors and walked in, her steps echoing in the hallways. Levy had no choice but to follow her.

The room inside was another shook. It was an office, she realized. The walls - or wallpapers? - were in simple dark gray colors. A simple black desk stood at the wall facing the door, large windows behind it. The curtains were currently drawn, the only light coming from the small chandelier in the ceiling.

A single man stood against them, leaning lightly on the desk. Levy had to hold back the gasp at the sight.

And there she, thinking she grew used to attractive people during her thing with Cana.

He - the boss, she assumed - was tall. Very tall. And very... Big. Board shoulders, wide chest... Damn it, his biceps were probably bigger than her head. And then the sharp v-line down his hips... Control, Levy. You're reading way too much erotic novels. His hair was long and black, held away from his face by a simple ponytail at the back of his head. As they made their way to him, she took more details - his relaxed position, his amusement. Like a king among peasants.

His face made her gasp. He wasn't handsome, she decided. No. He was gorgeous, in that rough, roguish way. Every part of his face screamed danger - the slope of his nose, the sharp lines of his cheekbones, his jawline... And the eyes, those eyes, she could feel them run over her body the same way hers ran over him, she could feel them burning her skin as if he was touching her.

And then their eyes met.

Levy felt her breath stop. His eyes were dark, dark brown, almost red, with the thickest lashes she had seen. There was a fire burning in them, hot enough to make her knees turn weak.

And that second passed and he looked away.

"So this is the girl you've been babbling about, Alberona." His voice was low, rough bass-baritone, sending shivers down every hot-blooded person, be it from different reasons. "She's cute, I give that to you."

"She's also standing right here and doesn't like being talked about as if she's not present" Levy snapped. Her eyes went wide when she realized she'd spoken.

His gaze returned to her with renewed interest, running from her jean-clad legs up the way to her face. It took all her self-control to not blush, but her attempt turned out successful.

"Of course you are, Miss Levy." The corners of his mouth turned up in a frustratingly arrogant smirk. "Do you mind me using your first name? Or you'd prefer Miss McGarden?"

"I'd prefer to know who you are" Levy bit back, ignoring the way his voice made her want to purr like a cat. "We're here to make business, are we not?"

"Sure we are" the mysterious man answered, then winked at her. Warmth began to spread over her face. Cana laughed at her. "Why don't you two sit down, ladies? We do have some things to talk about before the fun part comes."

Already dreading what that fun could be, Levy lowered herself in one of the plush chairs.

* * *

 _you can always contact me here on my tumblr, goldxnfairy, for more information_


	2. 2: deal with the devil

**_Upload date - 9th June 2018 (Original date - 23rd May 2018)_**

 ** _Word count - 1,608_**

 ** _full resume:_**

 _after years of studying and no job, levy mcgarden is ready to give up. one day an opportunity opens up for her - work for illegal organization, get the money she needs and gain experience to fulfill her childhood dream._

 _and somehow this kurogane person seems adamant to turn her life around. he's driving her crazy - his arrogant smile, the flicker of excitement in his eyes, the promise in his rough voice._

 _he's danger and she knows it._

 _why can't she stop thinking about him? why can't she drive him out of her mind?_

 _why is she letting him steal her heart?_

 ** _chapter resume:_**

 _levy strikes up a deal. how safe is it to sell your talent to the devil when the price might be more than you're ready to pay?_

* * *

Bracelets. Two bracelets.

"You're giving me… accessories?" Levy asked, unable to understand.

The three of them – she, Cana and Kurogane, as the man had introduced himself – had been sitting there in the last few hours, talking and arguing. Levy was bored and tired from all of this. Being looked at as if she was some sort of exotic animal made her feel weird, too. She knew she looked unusual to this sort of places - put together, plain and simple good little girl, like a small rabbit in the middle of the wild jungle. But that wasn't an excuse for him to watch her like that. It send shivers down her spine. And she wasn't sure which kind of shivers it was.

"Not just accessories" he explained with a lazy smirk. "Identification bracelets."

Levy gave him a flat look. On the spot next to her, Cana broke into a loud laugher, apparently finding the situation amusing. Kurogane simply sighed, leaning back into his chair with disappointment written all over his stupidly handsome face.

"And... what's the meaning of those... identification bracelets?"

"Don't you want to know." Levy watched as he gently picked her left wrist and tied the two plain pieces of leather. "It's simple, really. You're supposed to be a smart girl - tell me, what does a red cross on white mean?"

The first bracelet was a simple white band, with a small red cross on the side.

"... is that just a stupid way to make it obvious that I'm a medic?" she asked, daring to raise her head and meet his gaze. "Or you're not really creative?"

"Maybe someday you'll know." His smirk sent a wave of heat straight to her belly. "And the black one simply shows your position here, as one of us."

She certainly wasn't one of them, but Levy bit her tongue and didn't correct him. There seemed to be a big sense of belonging to this bunch and although she had made this mess all by herself, she knew she was smarter than do dig herself further. Instead of answering, she moved her wrist and observed the second lie. It was leather, like the first, but thinner and in a dark brown, almost black color. Cana had worn the same one since they've meet and upon a look she saw Kurogane had one as well.

"Is the chain here of any importance?" she asked instead, touching the delicate chain that decorated her black bracelet. "Or it's just to give a more aesthetic view to it? I notice neither of you have any."

"It indicates your current state of inviolability." His fingers ghosted over the delicate skin of her wrist, causing goosebumps to raise all over. "No one here is allowed to touch you in any way without permission."

"Mine or yours?" Levy whispered. Their eyes met again and she found herself drowning in the deep brown-red. His man screamed danger.

The only answer Kurogane gave her was a wolfish grin. He pressed a light kiss to her knuckles, then finally lowered her hand down. The smugness was only the front, though - she saw deeper interest flicker in his eyes. It scared her. She didn't want his interest. She didn't want him to... to...

"That's a pretty low blow, Boss" Cana complained with the slightest hint of tease in her voice. "Keeping baby blue all for yourself... So cruel of you..."

Levy was thankful of the distraction Cana's comment provided - her train of thoughts was going to very dangerous places - but it didn't make her feel any less uncomfortable. Heat rushed up her neck, spreading all over her face. They couldn't mean it in that way, right? And why was still this way of speaking as if she wasn't present?!

"Such is life" Kurogane said with a shrug. "Better get used to it, Alberona."

"I thought we were supposed to share in here" Cana reminded him, although she appeared greatly amused to by him events were turning out.

"I don't share." A smirk curled the corner of his mouth. "Especially something as precious as young Miss McGarden here."

"Miss McGarden is still pretty much present."

Heat flared to her face yet again when his impossibly deep eyes ran over her – it felt as if his hands were caressing her, not his gaze. Something flickered to life deep in the pit of her belly, sweat gathered at the nape of her neck. The longer they stared at each other, the harder it became to look away.

"And she's not a something" Levy continued with a trembling voice that sounded like someone else's. "I'm not a thing, Mister Kurogane. I'm a person."

"I am well aware of that, Miss McGarden." His voice was soft like velvet, dark like a starless night. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"Nothing at all, Sir." Levy brought over her best innocent look. She dared battling her lashes at him.

"Of course. Alberona, please, could you leave me and Miss McGarden for a second? I need to speak with her in private." He didn't look away from her even for a second. "You don't mind doing that, do you?"

"Course not" Cana said with a smirk and pulled herself from the leather chair. "I'll go check what's going on around. Give me a call whenever little blue is ready to go."

Kurogane nodded and waved her off as if she was a fly. He showed no reaction at the slam of the door which made Levy jump in her seat, or at the loud echoing laugher ringing outside.

Finally released from the unearthly magnetism of his brown-red gaze, Levy relaxed into the strangely comfortable leather chair and closed her eyes. The silence felt like… Like calm before the storm, she figured out. Worries settled in her chest and clouded her mind.

"What's on your mind?"

Levy jumped and almost fell from the chair, a warm hand on her arm the only thing holding her grounded. The closeness of his voice surprised her, but the feel of his touch knocked her off her ground. Gooseflesh prickled her skin and she watched as his fingers trailed down the length of her arm, down her wrist, before finally slipping at the tip of her nails. The spell over, she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Did I scare you?" The smirk in his smile was audible and when Levy turned her head to face him, her assumption was confirmed. She noticed traces of amusement and curiosity on his face, but he seemed to be someone well-versed in holding himself together. "Do I scare you?"

"No." _Yes. I don't know._ Feeling sweat break upon her palms, she licked her suddenly dry lips. "Why? Are you trying to scare me?"

"On the contrary." Before Levy could react, she was pushed into the desk. All the air in her chest left her, along with it whatever courage she could muster. She was all alone, in the middle of nowhere with no friends and no one to her… and his monster person, in all his tall glory, managing to hold her still only with his beautiful eyes. "What makes you think I'm trying to scare you?"

"Your obvious disrespect of my personal space, for example?" Levy gulped down. His warm breath caressed her skin, his eyes were studying her. "All those insulting comments? Those completely perverted looks you were giving me?"

Instead of answering her, Kurogane laughed. It was a rough, deep sound, from the deep of his chest. Almost like a dog's bark. For her dismay, Levy realized she liked it. The spark in her belly caught fire, spreading pleasant warmth all over her body, down to the tips of her toes. She hated it.

She hated him.

"You can always leave" Kurogane reminded her, amusement crinkling in his eyes. "I'm not gonna stop you."

He wasn't holding her, Levy realized. He was leaning over her, he was playing with her, teasing her, driving her crazy with words and caresses, but he wasn't…

"Not gonna hurt you."

"You're not?" She could push him away easily if she wanted. But she didn't. "Promise?"

"I don't do promises." Kurogane's voice was a soft whisper against her lips, _like a lover's confess._ "But I don't lie, either."

* * *

Levy stayed silent during the car ride back to her apartment, staring at the blur of the city outside the window. She knew Cana was sitting next to her and singing to whatever song was on the radio, but she couldn't hear her. Her head felt as if filled with cotton. Her mind was a mess.

A rough shake on her shoulder broke her train of thoughts and Levy jumped in surprise, hitting her head on the car's low roof. A line of curses came from the seat next to her and soon a water bottle was pressed to the bruised spot.

"What's the matter, blue?" Cana asked once they were out of the car. "You've been kinda off since I picked you from Boss."

With a shrug Levy dug into her poked for keys. Cana took them from her and unlocked the building's front door, then the two headed up the stairs. The silence that fell was unusual – it was rarely quiet with Cana around, but for once she seemed to understand.

"You sure you're alright?" she asked. The two were once again in the safety of the small, book-cluttered apartment. "I can make you tea or one of those fancy bubble baths you like."

Levy smiled at the offer and put down the water bottle.

"That would be really nice."

* * *

 _you can always contact me here or on my tumblr, goldxnfairy_

 _question on the chapter: what do you think happened after the line break?_


End file.
